User-Friendly Database Interface Design (804)

RUNNING HEAD: USER-FRIENDLY DATABASE INTERFACE 1

User-Friendly Database Interface Design

Annotated Bibliography

Amy Taylor

Emporia State University

USER-FRIENDLY DATABASE INTERFACE 2

User-Friendly Database Interface Design

Introduction

Database design encompasses many components. Designers must consider its purpose,

structure, metadata scheme, algorithm, and many other details. One component that has garnered

much attention in the last decade is the interface. With the advent of Google, designers have

come to see the importance of a user-friendly interface. The design and organization of the

interface not only influences how users search, but also how they deal with the presented results.

With that in mind, many subscription databases used by libraries, have gone through a re-design

to update their interface, making them more user-friendly. In another attempt to compete with

Google, they have also begun developing federated searching that can act as a one-stop research

hub; however these databases have difficulty maintaining a user-friendly interface. This

bibliography consists of articles that focus on the aspects of good interface organization and

design, the importance of user-friendly design, evaluations of recently redesigned databases, and

the interface hurdles faced by federated databases.

Tips for Designing a Well Organized and User-Friendly Interface

Bambrick, J. (2000). Dreams of the perfect database. EContent, 23(1), 21-2, 24. Retrieved from

Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

In 2000 EContent launched a campaign to describe the perfect database. They asked their

contributors and readers to submit articles describing what their ideal database would

look like: its features, search capabilities, user interface, and more. Jane Bambrick,

Reference Librarian at William Paterson University, took the challenge and wrote an

article which described her dream about the perfect database. Her “idyllic” database’s

interface had a simple organization, soothing colors and an uncluttered look. Brambrick


described an interface that was flexible, allowing the user to move easily between basic

and advanced searching options and easily skim their results.

Although this article is told in an amusing fashion and the database described was

fictious, it does shed light on the desires of database users. It is obvious that Brambrick

believes database companies must keep their users needs in mind when laying out the

organization of their interface and she did an excellent job describing how the interface

should be organized differently for different users. “The industry must keep in mind the

database users and how they can best utilize their products. Keeping attuned to the

constant and dynamic changes in the world of information technology is essential”

(Brambrick, 2000, p. 24). A fine article for database designers and reference librarians.

Fichter, D. (2001). Designing usable sites: a state of mind. Online (Weston, Conn.), 25(1), 68-72.

Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

Darlene Fichter is a librarian at the University of Saskatchewan Library and has written

numerous articles about human computer interaction for various journals and magazines.

In this article, she focuses on how to design a usable web interface. Fichter explains that

there are seven design principle for usable web sites: be intuitive, have a clear

organizational structure, be consistent, offer navigational choices, tailor visual design and

interaction to fit your audience, make it work, and be polite. A central theme among these

principles is consistency. As the author describes each of the principles she argues that

the user looks for a consistent organizational structure, whether that is in the navigational

structure or layout of the pages. Fichter states that “Using a familiar layout and site

structure helps users. They expect the logo at the top, the content in the middle, menus on

the left, and footers. Make use of their intuitive knowledge, and put their brain cycles to


work on understanding what services are offered” (2001, para. 14). According to the

author, if designers follow the seven principles presented their websites will remain user

focused.

Although the article does not focus on database design it does provide excellent advice

for database designers where interface organization is concerned. The reader can

visualize what the author is saying and apply her techniques to their own interface design

and organized.

Jagadish, H. V., Chapman, A., Elkiss, A., Jayapandian, M., Li, Y., Nandi, A., & Yu, C. (2007).

Making database systems usable. Retrieved from

http://www.eecs.umich.edu/db/usable/usability.pdf

In this paper, a database research group from the University of Michigan addresses the

issue of database usability. The group presented this paper at the ACM/SIGMOD PODS

International Conference on Management of Data / Principles of Database Systems in

2007. They became interested in database usability while working on a database for a

group of biologist. Although very intelligent, the biologist had a difficult time using the

database. This insight led the research group toward usability research and this paper.

Through their research they were able to identify five areas of concern regarding database

organization and usability. They also suggested several areas needing further research.

This paper is very esoteric and lacks explanation of the more technical elements making

the paper more suitable for database designers.

Tenopir, C. (2005). Getting the user's attention. Library Journal (1976), 130(8), 32. Retrieved

from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.


At the 2005 Annual meeting of the National Federation of Abstracting and Information

Services librarians and database companies met to discuss what library users want when

searching for information via the web. They were specifically interested in how to move

users from web search engines and the open web to more high-quality information

available in library databases. Carol Tenopir, a professor of Information Science at the

University of Tennessee, was lucky enough to attend the meeting and in this article she

summarizes the event.

Catherine Gordon, Google’s director of business services, was the keynote speaker of the

event and shared with the group what Google’s data says about how user’s search. She

explained that their data demonstrates that users simply pick a website, open it, skim it

and then return to their results to pick the next on the list. Tenopir also described some

points made by Stewart Bodner, associate chief librarian of the New York Public Library,

regarding the general public’s desire to be self-sufficient. Although the article does not

speak to the technical aspects of database design it does speak to what database designers

should be working toward. The information shared by Gordon and Bodner suggests that

database designers need to build interfaces that are organized in such a way that users can

skip between their results easily and require little instruction regarding use. A good

overall review of the conference for librarians however, specific examples and

suggestions would have been beneficial.

How Important is Interface Design and Organization


Knievel, J., Wakimoto, J., & Holladay, S. (2009). Does interface design influence catalog use? A

case study. College & Research Libraries, 70(5), 446-58. Retrieved from Library Lit &

Inf Full Text database.

After a redesign of their OPAC interface some of the librarians at The University of

Colorado at Boulder began to consider whether or not the changes would influence the

use of the catalog. Would the new organization lead users to search differently? Use the

OPAC more? Less? With these questions in mind Jennifer Knievel, Faculty Director of

Research and Instruction, Jina Wakimot, Faculty Director of Cataloging and Metadata

Services, and Sara Holladay, Electronic Collections and Assessment Librarian decided to

launch a study of OPAC usage after the redesign. Over the course of three years they

collected data via a transactional log analysis and found that use of the OPAC did not

decline or increase but the way in which users search did change. They found an increase

in keyword searching and rationalized that this was due to the fact that it was the default

search option.

Although the study gave good information regarding the search behavior of users, it did

little to draw conclusions between the interface design and their results. A detailed

description of the interface and the changes made to it would have been very helpful as

well as graphics showing the before and after.

Tenopir, C. (2009). Visualize the perfect search. Library Journal (1976), 134(4), 22. Retrieved


Carol Tenopir, a professor of Information Science at the University of Tennessee, has

written many articles addressing database design; in this one she discusses the importance

of a well-designed and organized interface. In the article she addresses the issue faced by


almost all academic librarians. Although students understand that library database have

excellent information, they still utilize Google over the database. According to Tenopir

(2009) “studies have shown that students recognize that the library has high-quality and

authoritative content but still choose Google owing to its ease of use” (p. 22). She seems

to draw a connection between student use of databases and organized, usable interface

design. She also describes a new approach to interface design that may make library

databases more competitive to Google as well as provide users with a more meaningful

search experience called the Visualization approach. Although Tenopir does not state her

opinions regarding the validity of the new approach, the article does give librarians an

alternative to the simple search box perpetuated by Google. A good read for librarians

who must review new databases.

Evaluating Database Design

Badke, W. (2008). EBSCOhost 2.0: How EBSCO is changing my mind, sort of. Online (Weston,

Conn.), 32(5), 48-50. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

In 2008 EBSCOhost launched its new interface EBSCOhost 2.0, its first interface change

since 2002. In this article Associate Librarian at Trinity Western University, William

Badke, provides an evaluation of the makeover. Badke has written over twenty articles in

the field of information. His final evaluation of EBSCOhost 2.0 - A+, however Badke

may be a bit biased. In the first paragraph he admits that EBSCOhost is his favorite

database. That being said, he gives a great description of the new interface. He notes that

the design and organization of the search interface resembles Google just as the company

planned. At first, Badke is disappointed in the new look but upon further inspection he


grows to appreciate the organization. EBSCOhost moved the “bells and whistles” from

the search interface, where they intimidated users, to the results interface where they are

intuitive and organized in a user-friendly manner.

Although the article may be a bit biased, it does a very good job of describing the

organization and design of the interface. A good resource for any librarian considering

purchase of the database or wanting to become more familiar with its new interface.

Davis, J. (2006). The new Hoover's. EContent, 29(7), 20-2. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf

Full Text database.

Jan Davis, president of JT Research, specializes in business and industry research and

writing. In this article she provides an evaluation of Hoover’s redesigned business

database known as “New Hoovers”. Hoover’s Inc. made the decision to redesign their

database when it became difficult to maintain a consistent, uncluttered look. In their

redesign they focused on creating an intuitive, clean interface that gave their users easy

and quick access to Hoover’s information. According to Davis Hoover was very

successful in accomplishing their goal. She seemed most impressed by the results

interface. She liked the way the results page was organized, giving details about the types

of records provided on the right-side and giving the user the ability to narrow their results

through options on the left side.

It is clear that Davis was a big fan of the Hoover database, even before the redesign;

therefore some bias can be seen in the review. However, the review is detailed and gives

the reader a good impression of what the database offers. Business librarians will find the

review helpful when making decisions about database purchases.


LaGuardia, C. (2009). Global Issues in Context. Library Journal (1976), 134(7), 112. Retrieved


In 2009 Gale Cengage launched a new database called Global Issues in Context. One of

the main changes made in this database was in its interface. Rather that going with a

simple clean search screen, Global Issues search interface is rich in content and

multimedia. In this article Cheryl LaGuardia reviews the new database. Cheryl

LaGuardia is the Research Librarian for the Widener Library at Harvard University and

the author of Becoming a Library Teacher. Her review is clear, concise, and unbiased.

She simply lists its features and discusses the results for a basic search. Her review lacks

analyses of the new interface design and organization. However, she does seem to like

the new look, especially the interactive map. An unbiased, concise review of Global

Issue, however a librarian considering this database will need to do more research.

Federated Database Interface Design

Cervone, F. (2005). What we've learned from doing usability testing on openurl resolvers and

federated search engines. Computers in Libraries, 25(9), 10-14. Retrieved from Library

Lit & Inf Full Text database.

When Northwestern University decided to launch a federated search of their resources

they did not jump in blind. They first ran a series of usability tests of the federated search

interface which gave them a clearer picture of what needed to be done. They wanted to

“ensure that people are able to find and use resources in the most efficient and

straightforward manner possible” (Cervone, 2005, p. 10) Frank Cervone, assistant

university Librarian for Information Technology at Northwestern, wrote this article to

share their findings from the usability tests. Cervone describes the tests they used and the


results in a simple manner that even the least technical minded people can understand. A

key point made by the author was that a simple interface is not enough when it comes to

good interface design. They discovered that their interface needed to be organized in a

specific way to be more effective. A great read for librarians looking into federated

searching for their own libraries.

Fryer, D. (2004). Federated search engines. Online (Weston, Conn.), 28(2), 16-19. Retrieved


Donna Fryer, an information consultant researcher, and trainer with Global Information

Research & Retrieval, wrote this very informative article about federated searching. The

goal of the article is to provide librarians with information about this new technology.

She describes how it works and discusses some of the pros and cons. While describing

the interface she points out that there are some issues regarding their organization and

design. For example, the look and feel of the page should not require a high learning

curve on the part of the user and the search interface should be consistent with the results

interfaces. The author did a good job of presenting the information with an unbiased

approach and the article would be a good read for any librarian wanting more information

about federated searching and its design.

Wrubel, L., & Schmidt, K. (2007). Usability testing of a metasearch interface: A case study.

College & Research Libraries, 68(4), 292-311. Retrieved from Library Lit & Inf Full

Text database.

When the 16 libraries in the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions

(USMAI) instituted the a metasearch interface Laura Wrubel, Systems Librarian in the

University of Maryland Libraries and Kari Schmidt, Collection Management &


Electronic Resources Librarian in the Dahlgren Memorial Library at Georgetown

University decided to conduct a study evaluating its effectiveness. This article is a

description that study and its results. They found that most students in the study

understood what a metasearch (also known as a federated search) does and were familiar

with the libraries website. Two different interfaces for their metasearch system were

tested and students did show a preference toward once based on its interface design.

Overall the authors found that the students saw that the metasearch tool could be useful.

“However, aspects of functionality and interface design contributed to low rates of

success in completing tasks” (Wrubel & Schmidt, 2007, p.302).

A good read for those libraries considering moving toward a metasearch or federated

search tool and for designers developing these tools.

User-Friendly Database Interface Design (804)

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to User-Friendly Database Interface Design (804)

More from amytaylor

Recently uploaded

User-Friendly Database Interface Design (804)